Some gear we can’t live without

First of all, we run this website. Second of all, we do everything else: Work at our day jobs, raise children, shop for groceries and celebrate anniversaries. So, like you, we’ve had to get pretty creative over the years about ways to squeeze in our training.

This has led to some strange scheduling, with workouts happening after children are asleep or in the nasty predawn hours before a commute. But you gotta do what you gotta do, right? Body isn’t gonna train itself. We know you’ve all been there, staring down a marathon date or competing with an office buddy over who can lose the most weight.

So we’ve decided to share with you some of our favorite items of gear. The stuff that’s there for us when we blearily reach for it on a 22-degree morning. The stuff that keeps us warm and safe.

The stuff that gets the job done.

LL Bean Fleece

One of our favorite basic cool-weather layers. Our site mastermind Paul wears it when the weather is in the 40s up to about 55.

This family and Bean go way back, ever since one of our clan decided to go to college in Maine, and we are no less delighted with its flagship store than we were when we first visited back in the early ‘90s.

Now, we’re lucky enough to be able to swing through Freeport at least once a year for a marathon (ha!) shopping session on our way to our annual family retreat on Mount Desert Island.

LightSpur LED heel clip

Gmaps wants you to shine bright like a diamond, especially so that you don’t get hit by a car.

The handy little LightSpur clips to your heel so that your moving foot is visible. Up. Down. Up. Down. Drivers may be so mesmerized by it that they accidentally go off the road and into a ditch. Well, we hope not, but we really want them to see us. Which is why we also wear this …

Ultimate Survival Technologies Headlamp

A powerful little lamp and essential for those 5 a.m. workouts (see above; real people training before commutes etc.).

Expert runner’s hack: Wear this on your wrist!

It has a little clip that pivots to attach to the band, so instead of wearing it on your head (super annoying), clip it to your …

RoadID

Lets emergency responders know who you are. One of those great inventions that makes you wonder why no one thought of it sooner. A terrific way to soothe anxious spouses who may not be tickled about your planned solo century or 10K run down a remote road. There’s wrist models, shoe models, dog-tag models.

If you haven’t already been sucked in by the tales of horror on the RoadID website, proceed over there immediately and scan the story at the top of the page. You’ll be clicking “buy” before you know it.

Don’t leave home without one!

Some places where you DON’T need to spend a lot of money:

Headphones. We’ve tried a lot of different types, but in the end, it comes down to just a pair with a clip that goes over the ear.

Armbands. At this point, we’ll take any old band that will fit our increasingly huge phones.